Love on Economy
by Agent D-05
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke are strangers sharing a plane to Chicago to reunite with their families. But just when things are starting to get comfortable, the plane decides to crash. One-shot. NaruSasu. Inspired by the song Plane by Jason Mraz.


Love on Economy

By: Agent D-05

* * *

_I was having a Jason Mraz moment and my genius decided to pay me a visit. Also, having seen the latest chapter of Naruto makes my heart tingle with delight seeing our own Naruto-chan fighting side by side with our Sasuke-kun :) Oh, I do not own those two hotties but I can always make them want each other in my imaginations. hehehe. Please drop me some love! _

_And before I forget, some notes about the story:_

_1. Japan Airlines Flight 123 was an actual domestic Japan Airlines passenger flight that crashed in August 12, 1985. It was the deadliest single-aircraft accident in history, the deadliest aviation accident to occur on Japanese soil, and the second-deadliest accidental plane crash. But in this story, I merely adopted the flight name, other details are made up._

_2. I also used a bit of Emperor Hirohito's speech, and tried to decently place it in the story... Please do not sue me, please, if ever I got it all wrong. Though I won't get offended if someone corrects me with that._

_Naruto is a bit weird here. haha. On with the story!_

* * *

It only took a fraction of a second for me to know that something bad is going to happen today.

I stepped inside the Tokyo International Airport and various images quickly flashed at the back of my eyes. I blink and everything is normal again, at least for me. Walking towards the check-in counter, I presented my itinerary receipt and identification card to the smiling woman behind the counter; I smiled back as she gave me my ticket.

I searched for a semi isolated seat in the waiting room hoping to catch some shut-eye having almost no sleep from work yesterday. Due to slight disorientation, I bumped into a young man with dark hair and dark eyes.

"Hey, watch it" He said not even sparing me a glance, his eyes darting to the far right side of the waiting room.

"Sorry…" I said as a reflex answer and finally I spotted an empty set of seat at the back of the room. I sat, hugged my bag and in an instant I fell asleep.

* * *

_Final call for Japan Airlines Flight number 123, please board the aircraft now. _

_Final call for Japan Airlines Flight number 123, please board the aircraft now. _

Naruto's blue eyes snapped open at the distant sound of the voice recorded reminder blaring from the airport's speakers. Still a bit disoriented he fumbled through his bag for his passenger ticket. He released a relieved sigh as he pulled the ticket out of his passport holder.

Feeling a bit flustered from his nap, he ran a hand to his hair hoping to tame the blond mess of a hair. He then grabbed his duffel bag and moseyed towards the service gate.

The attendant reached out for his ticket and surveyed him while having a well-trained smile on her face. She handed the other half of the ticket and smiled at Naruto, saying "Have a nice flight, good sir". Naruto smiled showing his perfect set of teeth.

In no time, Naruto was comfortably seated inside the cockpit, his chair by the window. It was drizzling outside and the air-conditioning is starting to get to his body. He shivered a bit drawing his black jacket closer to his frame. In a few hours, he will be joining his family at last.

"Excuse me."

Naruto looked at the source of the deep voice to his left. The man was wearing a cap, his dark long-sleeved shirt was rolled up to his elbows and he has a fair and decently smooth skin. This man was addressing the passenger seated near the aisle… _which means he's seated beside me,_ Naruto thought.

"Do I know you?" The man asked and Naruto was startled to realize that all this time he was openly staring at the man's face.

"It's black" Naruto's eyes widened. He does not mean to say out loud, that the man's eyes are very black, but there you have it; and now the man with the black eyes is looking at him funny.

"Do you mean my eyes?" There's a hint of amusement in his voice and Naruto could have sworn he saw the man raise a brow behind the stray hair on his forehead.

"No. I mean, yes. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… Anyway, my name's Naruto" Naruto wiped his right hand to his pants and extended it to his seatmate.

"Sasuke"

Sasuke removed his cap and placed it at his lap, ignoring the hand extended to him. Naruto's face turned red with embarrassment and muttered _"Oohkay, I guess not"_ under his breath as he retreated his hand and turned to the window. Even with his face turned away from Sasuke, his attention keeps on going back the man.

Shortly, the flight stewards assembled in a well-rehearsed formation and demonstrated a well-practiced safety guideline routine. The plane's engine rumbled and after a not so long wait they are taking off. Phones off, seatbelts fastened, service tray tucked in front of the passenger seat, bags stowed in the overhead bins and Naruto's hands are drumming to the beat of Joey Ramone's What a Wonderful World to ease the slight pull of gravity at the pit of his stomach as they ascend into the earth's sky.

Beside him, Sasuke relaxed with his eyes closed, hands absent mindedly placed on his lap. Naruto let out a breath as soon as they stabilized in the air and the fastened seatbelt sign went off. His eyes instinctively landed on Sasuke. With Sasuke's eyes closed, Naruto openly examined his face. A bit on the feminine side but the jaw gives a masculine touch, his face is impossibly clean, save for the natural hair on his face. His lips are slightly parted, a tinge of pink in them, giving his pale face a bit color. _He is a beautiful handsome man_, _if that's even possible._

"Is there something on my face?"

Naruto, for the second time that day, had the decency to feel embarrassed, he can feel his ears heat up and his face is red in front of this beautiful stranger. Something tells him that he knows the man, but he can't, for the love of him, figure out when or where or how or maybe his mind is just playing tricks on him.

Sasuke's eyes are still closed but his face seemingly shows that he's waiting for Naruto's reply. _No shit Sherlock, this man is creepy-weird_ was all that Naruto could think of at the moment.

"Err… Nothing really, it's just – "

"Then STOP staring" Sasuke snapped not waiting for Naruto to finish the sentence.

Naruto's face scrunched up in annoyance thinking that yes, HE might be the handsomest person he laid his eyes on but he is SUCH an asshole. He scowled as he turned his back to his asshole of a seatmate and peered out of the window; might as well get lost in the clumps of clouds outside.

It's almost sunrise and he was looking forward to see the sun's early rays cast its majestic beams over the sky and onto the Earth's land below.

He felt the gentle vibration of the aircraft as he slightly prop his head on the side of the small oval window. His thoughts drifted to his home. After almost 6 years of stay in Osaka, he finally decided to join his family in Chicago. Naruto was in contradiction to migrating. He insisted that where they are is good enough; that there's no need for them to leave their life in Japan, their friends and their supposedly decent future… but Naruto's resolve was only as strong but a few notches lower than his father's. It was something deep and personal for his old man, it was a ticket to his dreams; it was for that reason that Naruto could not have the heart to say 'no', at least not forever.

At the end, they ended up letting Naruto stay in Osaka as he wishes as long as he made sure to visit them as often and as long as Naruto's schedule allows. After 6 long years, Naruto decided he needed to start anew, something more grounded. Honestly, he wanted the feeling of his family – he somehow wanted to feel someone taking care of him and fussing over him like how he was used to a long time ago. A feeling he never thought would occur to him.

Naruto's cheeks felt warm despite the crisp chill of the cockpit. His smile was instantaneous. The dark was slowly giving way to the light. The pale orange hue is slowly creeping from the horizon, owning and giving the sky a light blue shade. He can feel his eyes brighten up just like the sky.

There was a slight shuffle to his left, for a moment, he turned his gaze away from the scene before him. It was out of impulse that he turned towards the source of the movement but he did not in one second regret, for what he saw was the second most stunning thing that he saw that day and it was facing him staring outside his window.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Naruto said, as he looked back at the view outside, loud enough for Sasuke to hear. He didn't expect any reaction from him, besides, he was shut down twice… he better not get his hopes up. So it surprised him when Sasuke answered him softly: "It is beautiful"

You could say that one of the gods in Mt. Olympus took a universal remote control and pressed pause to savor the moment of these two mortals marvel at the beauty of an everyday occurrence which is the sunrise.

Naruto's bright blue eyes finally caught the endless black of Sasuke's. Fresh morning rays illuminating their faces, both are surprisingly wearing clear expressions of delight and wonder. Both sharing, even for a second, a smile that they don't know they have.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock ti-

And the gods pressed play.

The moment ended almost as soon as it started. Sasuke faced in front, going back to his default emotionless face. Naruto on the other hand is having a hard time moving on from the 'special moment' – he was still smiling and slowly, transforming into a grimace, then an almost frown.

Both knew that something shifted between them. They stay silent swimming deep in their own thoughts among the sea of strangers. The still air is suffocating making the baby's incessant cry behind them muffled; the tapping finger of Sasuke's seatmate by the aisle is in slow motion, the tiny particles of dust inside the aircraft is clearly highlighted with orange from the sun, the conversation of two ladies walking down the aisle are muted. And the only clear thing that they can hear is the steady beating of their pulse and nervous breath as they breathe both anticipating the other to break the sudden tension in the air.

"Coffee, sir?" A feminine voice called out to them breaking rigid atmosphere. The flight attendant was standing tall over their seats, her brown hair is tied into a neat bun and her lipstick is a tame shade of red, her chinky eyes are curved with glee. She has a pleasant smile, her face open and friendly as she waited for their response.

"Water for me" Sasuke's deep voice is now distinct over the grumbled sound of the passengers in the plane and Naruto could not help but notice how Sasuke's pale hand reach over the bottle of water from the girl. He slightly shook his head and cleared his thoughts, he was being pulled into that weird force which is Sasuke and it's making him look like an idiot.

"I'll take the coffee" Naruto said mustering all his composed self together to redeem himself. He fished out some cash from his wallet for the coffee.

Sasuke is watching Naruto from the corner of his eyes with mild curiosity. Naruto reached for the hot cup and packet of sugar and cream careful not to spill the liquid contents of the paper cup at Sasuke. He had enough bad first impression to the man and the last thing he wants is to prove that he is indeed a clumsy idiot.

"Thank you… Sarah!" The blond cheerfully smiled to the girl. An equally cheerful "My pleasure" was the girl's reply.

Sasuke glanced over to Naruto who let out a breath as the flight attendant left. He found himself watching the blond open the packet of cream and carefully pouring it to his black coffee. The bright light of the sun is making Naruto's tan skin glow and his blue eyes are making him look like a demi god, Hercules to be specific. Sasuke felt Naruto looking at him from the moment he said 'Excuse me'; he admits that the blond is attractive and sure he is used to people looking at him ranging from innocent admiration to smoldering lust and he can categorize Naruto's stares as curious fascination which he seldom get. Closing his bottled water he faced Naruto.

"Are you sure you need more of that?"

Naruto's hands stopped midway from pouring more cream and cocked his head to Sasuke, blue eyes asking 'and why's that?'

"You seem… tense enough" Sasuke continued as he sensed the silent question in the blond's eyes. Naruto looked at Sasuke and continued to pour the rest of the cream to his coffee with a satisfied smirk.

"Oh, I _loooove_ feeling tensed… if you know what I mean…" Naruto said with a tinge of amusement and sarcasm. The blond took a sip of his coffee and pouted a bit "Though I hate the palpitations from drinking too much"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto not knowing whether the blond is coming on to him or the words simply does not imply anything. Naruto is still pouting a bit on his coffee and muttering something about it not as good as Kafeneio.

"I'm straight" Sasuke suddenly said, his eyes roaming over Naruto's face, inspecting him like well plated meal.

It made Naruto sputter on his coffee and looked at Sasuke's serious face, he hurriedly answered "Well, _I_ am straight too, man" _and that is a bit of a lie_ added Naruto to himself thinking about that one time he hooked up with Neji…

And he sort of liked it…

Sort of very much…

Sasuke saw Naruto's eyes glaze over for a moment and a sly smile crept on his face. He noticed the blond's throat move as he swallowed his coffee. The scrutiny made Naruto's skin crawl he was chanting _damndamndamndamn_ in his mind forcing himself to act cool in front of Sasuke.

"Just so we're clear…"

At that, a bright smile was directed at Sasuke and it bothered the brunette.

"So, Sasuke, where are you headed?" It was an attempt not to let the conversation die.

"I'd rather not tell…" Sasuke hesitated before saying "You might follow me…"

Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke hid a smirk taking pleasure in teasing the man for wearing his emotions on his sleeve. He was surprised when the blond chuckled and smiled.

"I might… ONLY if you want me..." A pause "…and you wouldn't WANT that… do you" It was a statement disguised as a question. And it hit Sasuke like a block of ice.

It was Sasuke's turn to feel his blood rush into his face. He looked elsewhere trying to hide his obvious blush. He was planning to tease the man but it instantly backfired. Just now he felt something akin to thrill at the idea of this stranger Hercules chasing him to wherever.

"My family is in Chicago. I'll be moving with them… then eventually move out, if the situation calls for it. But Japan is way too far from them…"

Sasuke was listening to the _smooth-rough_ voice of Naruto and it made him think of his brother. It was due to his brother that he decided to fly to Chicago. He did not notice the look that the blond was throwing him as he spaced out.

"So what's your story? I betcha dollar you were thinking about it"

"It's my brother's graduation. His second PhD…" Sasuke felt proud as he let the words tumble out of his lips. He felt proud of his brother. He actually is proud of his brother, even after all the rivalry and envy runs, at the end of the day, he is happy of his brother's achievements.

"See? That wasn't so hard." Naruto propped his elbow on Sasuke's armrest and rested his face on his palm waiting for him to continue with the story. When all Naruto heard was Sasuke's hesitance to share, he figured out he does have to ask to get something out of this beautiful stranger "Does he have a family?"

"…Me"

There was an extended silence after that. Even Naruto knows about the implications and different scenarios of Sasuke's answer and most of them are not happy.

"It's gets lonely, doesn't it?" Naruto asked silently, savoring the question directed not only at Sasuke but to his self too.

"You're nosy" Was all Sasuke said as he swatted Naruto's arm off of his arm rest.

"I prefer infinitely curious" Naruto grinned at Sasuke and Sasuke rolled his eyes with a muted smile.

At some point along the flight, Naruto and Sasuke drifted to sleep. Naruto's own baseball cap is covering his eyes, his head being supported by a neck pillow while Sasuke is slightly leaning his body to his side, facing Naruto - one arm supporting his head and the other is holding the armrest on Naruto's side, surprisingly, one of the blond's hand is loosely clamped to Sasuke's wrist.

They woke up with a start as the plane suddenly jerked. The commotion was instant. The babies started crying, irate passengers complaining, flight attendants checking the seats one by one; others started talking about praying to calm the nasty weather.

Sasuke woke up with an aching neck and Naruto woke up feeling the warmth of Sasuke's wrist on his hands. Black eyes darted towards the light weight on his left arm and pointedly stared at the hand clutching over his wrist. It was warm and it's sending pinpricks of sensation to his chest. Naruto on the other hand was slightly rubbing his thumb over the side of Sasuke's wrist like a seamstress testing the texture of her fine collection of fabrics, and for the love of all holy, Sasuke's hand grew a mind of its own and refused to move.

Naruto caught Sasuke looking at his hand and slowly let go of the pale wrist. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Sasuke sheepishly. He cleared his throat drawing Sasuke's attention to his face instead.

"What do you do?" Naruto asked despite the tumult around them. It's dark outside and there are droplets of water cascading through the window. Their flight is experiencing a turbulent weather and their plane is like an old rocking chair due to the strong wind and water.

"I teach…" Sasuke unconsciously touched the hand that Naruto was grazing not long ago "…History" He continued.

Sasuke found himself looking at the blue curious eyes of Naruto. Its dark blue now, maybe it was because of the storm outside…

"I'm intrigued…" Naruto gave Sasuke a challenging smile and it was… sexy, even bordering on predatory. Sasuke decided that he liked the dark blue shade of Naruto's eyes as much as it's bright blue counterpart.

The plane jerked again but not as hard as the first one. Sasuke's other seatmate opened the overhead light gently illuminating both Sasuke and Naruto's faces in the dimness of the cockpit. At that moment, Sasuke knew that impressing the man beside him should be the last thing he must be thinking but _fuck that all,_ he'll impress him anyway.

Naruto was waiting for him to speak. He sighed and started his sort of lecture:

"He was a deity, a god and his powers are almost absolute. He used to be a god just like any other: divine… but hidden in a cloak of mystery, you know he's there, but his impression is impersonal."

Naruto never thought he'd literally have this kind of discourse when he said he was intrigued. But damn he was hearing Sasuke speak and the way he does it is making his body produce happy hormones, also, the fact that he is actually listening as the words spill smoothly from the pink lips.

"He lived at par with the standards of his forefathers. And he led them… he led his people to do as their ancestors believed, to nobly fight till the end, till the last one of them stands. Even if it means the hundred millions would shatter like jewels…"

Sasuke licked his lips when he paused. And the gesture did not go unnoticed by a certain blue-eyed blond.

"But boom! goes Little Boy and Fat Man. And they did like jewels shatter… "

A faint gasp from Naruto can be heard and he could have sworn he didn't mean to, but he did and now Sasuke was giving him a smug smirk. The show-off bastard.

"It was noon, the sun may be shining brightly… and all of Japan heard him, for the first time, some may have doubted, but the message, clear as crystal."

Sasuke continued with ease, like he was conversing in freakin' Japanese. It was fascinating and very sensual that he can feel his heart beat harder.

"They folded, averting the could have been extinction of one great civilization. Facing the dictates of time and fate by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable."

Dubdub dubdub dubdub dubdub….

"And that was the Imperial surrender of Emperor Hirohito ending the World War II. Well, in a Geist, there's more to it than that…"

There was silence. The kind of silence you hear the moment before dropping a pin in a haystack. And it was gone in a second. Naruto was staring at him, mouth slightly parted.

"That was… something" _That was hot_ was what he really wanted to say. "Where have you been during all my history classes?"

"Probably acing my exams"

It was smug. But Naruto likes it.

"How about you" Sasuke asked and Naruto chuckled a bit, he was glad Sasuke's starting to open up to him.

"Oh, don't get your hopes too high I cannot recite Lincoln's Emancipation Address… I'm a photographer" The blond flashed a smile at Sasuke's countenance, his face read _go on, I'm listening. _"I freelance at parties, but it's more of a hobby, really… other than that, I have other boring side jobs"

"What do you photograph?" It was just a curious question and it made Naruto's body face him excitedly and his eyes were gleaming with something… unknown.

"People mostly, events… sometimes I submit to local newspapers…" Naruto wavered looking openly at Sasuke's face, looking for something. He's looking for a sign, a sign of chance… then Sasuke's left eyebrow twitched – Naruto continued "Until very recently, there's something I'm inclined to… capture -"

Sasuke's body froze in place, his personal space was being invaded by this intriguing stranger. Warm breath spread over his cheeks and ears, the faint smell of forest wood tickled his nose

Then lips moved lightly along his ears saying "You… all of you" It was husky and dark. Very unlike the seemingly naïve face of the man he thought Naruto was. Naruto moved away from him and peered at Sasuke's face who's eyes are still wide with shock/

"Shit. Sasuke… I'm sorry" Naruto was ranting now, strings of apology being thrown his way. Sasuke felt his hands quiver; he didn't know what to say, trying to form coherent thoughts, but miserably failing.

"I just… I got carried away, I didn't mean to be cree-"

The lights flickered. All passengers in the cabin are panicking. The seatbelt sign was on. Screaming and crying echoing all over the walls. The plane continuously jerked. Everything is chaotic.

From the speakers, they can hear the head pilot talking but only the words crash, waters, emergency, life vest and air mask is registering in their minds.

Now, Naruto's blue eyes were as wide as the dark ones of Sasuke's. They didn't want it to end, they were just starting…

It was only then that Naruto realized that one of Sasuke's hands was on his thigh, a pale finger tapping nonstop onto it. And then it clicked. With one fluid motion they were scrambling from their seats past all the panicking and crying passengers, past the flight attendant's scared face but still trying to coax them to take their seat, they went at the far back of the plane behind the curtain and onto the corner.

Sasuke's body was slammed to the wall as the plane gave a jolt. Without time to recover from the crash, Naruto's mouth was on his - chilly and slightly chapped from the cool temperature of the plane making Sasuke shudder slightly. It spurred Naruto on, hands moving and gliding over Sasuke's sides and lower back, and Sasuke slid his fingers through Naruto's hair, gasping.

Their tongues tangled and Sasuke let his hands rest on the back of Naruto's neck, holding him close Naruto pushing his hands inside Sasuke's shirt, ghosting over the skin of his stomach, fingers bumping over his ribs sending shivers down his spine, their teeth colliding once in a while due to the hasty movement of the aircraft and none of them cares. Sasuke moaned when Naruto withdrew one of his hands from his shirt to pull his dark hair, tugging in just the right way so their lips are slotted together more comfortably. Naruto felt the hairs at the back of his neck being scraped by dull fingernails and he felt the urge to consume, to get closer. Sasuke panted against Naruto's mouth, but he was only allowed three breaths as their lips connected once again.

There was a sudden force that threw both of them to the other corner of the 'room' they were in, leaving them slumped against the floor side by side.

"I'm gonna die and I can't even fucking cry" Naruto said shaking his head, eyes glassy with the after effects of lust and dread and emptiness.

"I thought you were straight" Said Sasuke who's wearing the same expression as Naruto's

"I lied"

"Yeah, me too"

They laughed weakly.

"Too bad I won't be re-learning more of history from you"

"Too bad you can't shoot me while I'm all hot and bothered"

"I had plans on pursuing you…"

"I don't mind, you're kinda hot… but fucking strange"

"You're an egotistic little bastard…"

"…But you like that" Sasuke said not bothering to look at Naruto for him to know that he is smiling.

"Yeah… I do"

Then everything went white.

* * *

I woke up gasping for breath. Trying to calm myself I took a few deep breaths and sat up looking at my watch, it read 3:50am, my flight is not until 4:30am. After that dream, I am sure not to board that passenger plane. I skim over the innocent passengers who will die today and there I saw Sasuke at the other corner of the room dozing off. Across him from the far right, is Naruto, also having a nap.

I should warn them but at the last moment, I decided to keep mum about it, besides, no one's going to believe. They always don't.

With one last look at them, I turned my back and walked out of the room without as much as a glance back.

* * *

_There you go my beloved readers! _

_I gotta add, if ever you're confused about the first scene and the last scene, the idea was some random person, supposedly a seer, senses that the Naruto and Sasuke's plane is gonna crash through a dream. That explains the 3rd person POV aside from our two favorite persons :)_

_Please give me some looove :) I desperately need fuel!_


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